Focus-based challenge-response authentication

ABSTRACT

A method for authenticating an access attempt includes detecting an access attempt by a user device over a network. A challenge-response authentication is provided over the network to the user device. The challenge-response authentication includes an image having a plurality of image objects. The challenge-response authentication is operable to display the image such that at least one of the plurality of image objects is in focus and at least one of the plurality of image objects is not in focus. In response to providing the challenge-response authentication, an authentication response is received from the user device over the network, and it is determined whether the authentication response includes an indication of the at least one of the plurality of image objects that is in focus to determine whether to authenticate or deny the access attempt.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/153,100, filed Jun. 3, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure generally relates to online and/or mobilepayments and more particularly to a focus-based challenge-responseauthentication system that may be used with an online and/or mobilepayment system.

2. Related Art

More and more consumers are purchasing items and services overelectronic networks such as, for example, the Internet. Consumersroutinely purchase products and services from merchants and individualsalike. The transactions may take place directly between a conventionalor online merchant or retailer and the consumer, and payment istypically made by entering credit card or other financial information.Transactions may also take place with the aid of an online or mobilepayment service provider such as, for example, PayPal, Inc. of San Jose,Calif. Such payment service providers can make transactions easier andsafer for the parties involved. Purchasing with the assistance of apayment service provider from the convenience of virtually anywhereusing a mobile device is one main reason why online and/or mobilepurchases are growing very quickly.

In many aspects of online and/or mobile payments, as well as in manysituations where online and/or mobile payments are not involved, it maybe desirable to authenticate a user attempting to access a website,application, and/or other network service. Authentication is performedto ensure that the entity interacting with the website, application,and/or other network service is not autonomous program running on acomputer (e.g., a ‘bot’) and may be desired by website, application, orother network operators to protect against such bots generating spam(e.g., by posting spam on a message board or other social communicationapplication) signing up as users (e.g., signing up as a user of amessage board or other social communication application, signing up foran email address, etc.,) and/or performing a variety of other botactions know in the art.

Conventional authentication methods provide word(s) and/or groups ofcharacters to an entity attempting to access a website, application, orother network service, and require the entity to type in the word(s) orgroups of characters in order to be authenticated and gain access to thewebsite, application, and/or network service. The words and/or groups ofcharacters may be distorted or warped, obscured (e.g., with an angledline drawn through them), crowded (positioned closer together than iscustomary for ordinary reading) and/or subject to a variety of otherattributes known in the art of word/character authentication methods. Insome instances, words that have been scanned from books or other similarphysical documents and that have previously presented problems toOptical Character Recognition (OCR) programs are used. While suchconventional authentication methods have been somewhat successful atpreventing bot access to websites, applications, and/or network systems,they have also proven to provide various difficulties to humansattempting to access the website, application, or network through acomputer.

Thus, there is a need for an improved challenge-response authenticationsystem.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method for authenticating an accessattempt includes providing a challenge-response authentication that isoperable to display an image such that at least one of a plurality ofimage objects is in focus and at least one of the plurality of imageobjects is not in focus. An authentication response that is received inresponse to providing the challenge-response authentication is analyzedto determine whether it includes an indication of the at least one ofthe plurality of image objects that is in focus and, if so, the accessattempt is authenticated.

In an embodiment, a focal point of the image may be changed using apredetermined time schedule to change which of the plurality of imageobjects is/are in focus during the challenge-response authenticationsuch that a user performing the access attempt is presented with animage in which different image objects are in focus over time.

As a result, a challenge-response authentication is provided thatprovides substantial difficulties for autonomous programs running oncomputers making access attempts, but is relatively easy for a humanuser making the access attempt.

These and other features and advantages of the present disclosure willbe more readily apparent from the detailed description of theembodiments set forth below taken in conjunction with the accompanyingfigures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method forauthenticating an access attempt;

FIG. 2 a is a front view illustrating an embodiment of a user devicebeing used to make an access attempt;

FIG. 2 b is a front view illustrating an embodiment of the user deviceof FIG. 2 a being used to make an access attempt;

FIG. 2 c is a front view illustrating an embodiment of the user deviceof FIGS. 2 a and 2 b being used to make an access attempt;

FIG. 3 is a front view illustrating an embodiment of a user device beingused to make an access attempt;

FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating an embodiment of a user device beingused to make an access attempt;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a networkedsystem;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a userdevice;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a computersystem; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of anauthentication device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, whereinshowings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of thepresent disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides a system and method for authenticatingan attempt to access a website, application, or other network service bya user device over a network. An authentication device is coupled to thenetwork and detects the attempt to access the website, application, orother network service by the user device. The authentication device thenprovides a challenge-response authentication, which includes an imagehaving a plurality of image objects, over the network to the userdevice. The challenge-response authentication is operable, e.g., whenprovided to the user device, to display the image on a user devicedisplay such that at least one of the plurality of image objects is infocus and at least one of the plurality of image objects is not infocus. For example, a user may be presented with an image in whichdifferent image objects in the plurality of image objects are in focusover time and asked to indicate which of the plurality of image objectsis in focus. The user may then use the user device to send anauthentication response over the network to the authentication device,and the authentication device will determine whether the authenticationresponse includes an indication of the at least one of the plurality ofimage objects that is in focus. If the authentication response indicatesthe correct image object(s) in the image that are known or determined tobe in focus by the authentication device, the access attempt isauthenticated.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a method 100 for authenticating an accessattempt is illustrated. In the embodiment of the method 100 describedbelow, a user is attempting to access a website, application, and/orother network service that is provided over a network by a payee device,a payment service provider device, an account provider device, and/orother authentication device. In another embodiment, a payment serviceprovider such as, for example, PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. assistsin the making of payments from the payer to the payee by transferringfunds from the payer account to a payee account of the payee, and mayauthenticate access attempts for a number of network service requestsusing the method 100. However, these embodiments are meant to be merelyexemplary, and one of skill in the art will recognize that a variety ofmodifications may be made to the focus-based challenge-responseauthentication system and method discussed below without departing fromthe scope of the present disclosure.

The method 100 begins at block 102 where an access attempt is detected.In an embodiment, at block 102 of the method 100, a user is attemptingto access a website, application, and/or a variety of other networkservices known in the art, over a network using a user device. Forexample, the user may be attempting to sign up for an account (e.g., apayer account, an email account, an application account, and/or avariety of other accounts known in the art), access a message board orother social communication service, and/or perform a variety of otheractions know in the art that may require authentication. The accessattempt using the user device results in an access request being sentover the network to an authentication device such that the accessattempt is detected by the authentication device. In an embodiment, theauthentication device is part of a server or group of servers that areused to provide the website, application, or other network service. Inanother embodiment, the authentication device may be separate from theserver or group of servers that are used to provide the website,application, or other network service, and may be connected to thoseserver(s) through the network.

The method 100 then proceeds to block 104 where a challenge-responseauthentication is provided. In an embodiment, the authentication deviceprovides the challenge-response authentication to the user device overthe network in response to detecting the access request. Thechallenge-response authentication is provided to prevent access to thewebsite, application, and/or other network service by autonomousprograms on a computer (e.g., “bots”.) The challenge-responseauthentication includes an image having a plurality of image objects,and the challenge-response authentication is operable to provide theimage on the user device such that only a subset of the plurality ofimage objects are displayed in focus on a user device display of theuser device while the image objects that are not in the subset aredisplayed out of focus. A plurality of examples of the image andoperation of the challenge-response authentication are illustrated anddescribed below, but one of skill in the art will recognize that avariety of other images and challenge-response authenticationfunctionality that provides a focus-based challenge-responseauthentication will fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c, an embodiment of a focus-basedchallenge-response authentication system 200 is illustrated. Thefocus-based challenge-response authentication system 200 includes a userdevice 202 having a user device display 204. At block 104 of the method100, a challenge-response authentication 206 is provided to the userdevice 200 over a network that includes an image 208.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c, the image 208is a plenoptic image. Plenoptic images may be created by plenoptic (orlight-field) cameras or other imaging devices. In one embodiment,plenoptic cameras use microlens arrays (also known as lenticular lensarrays) that are placed at the focal plane of the cameras main lens,along with an image sensor positioned behind the microlens array.Plenoptic cameras produce an image that allows the displacement of imageparts that are not in focus to be analyzed such that depth informationcan be extracted, when enable the ‘virtual’ refocusing of the imageusing a computer (e.g., a processor.) One of skill in the art willrecognize that the system and method described to produce a plenopticimage above has been presented as merely of one example of how to do so,and the system and method used to produce the plenoptic image used inthe method 100 is not included to limit the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The challenge-response authentication 206 also includes an instructionsection 210, a response section 212, and a send button 214. In theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c, the instructionsection 210 includes the following instruction “With the people in thepicture below numbered sequentially from left to right, indicate in theresponse section the number of the person(s) in focus:”, and theresponse section includes instructions to spell a response in a responsebox 212 a. However, the details of the instruction section 210 and/orthe response section 212 in the challenge-response authentication 206 ofFIGS. 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c are meant to be merely exemplary, and one ofskill in the art will recognize that a variety of instruction sectionsand response sections that detail to the user what information about theimage 208 should provided in the response box 212 a will fall within thescope of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, the image 208 in the challenge-responseauthentication 206 may be provided to the user device 202 such that oneof a plurality of image objects in the image 208 is displayed on theuser device display 204 in focus. For example, the image 208 may includea first image object 208 a (e.g., the persons face at the far left ofthe image 208), a second image object 208 b (e.g., the persons face inthe middle of the image 208), and a third image object 208 c (e.g., thepersons face at the far right of the image 208). Thus, a user may bepresented (through the user device display 204 on the user device 202)with the image 208 having the first image object 208 a in focus (e.g.,the image 208 in FIG. 2 a), the image 208 having the second image object208 b in focus (e.g., the image 208 in FIG. 2 b), or the image 208having the third image object 208 c in focus (e.g., the image 208 inFIG. 2 c).

In another embodiment, the image 208 in the challenge-responseauthentication 206 may be provided to the user device 202 with a focalpoint of the image 208 changing over time such that only one of thefirst image object 208 a, the second image object 208 b, and the thirdimage object 208 c is provided on the user device display 204 in focusat any given time. For example, a user may be presented (through theuser device display 204 on the user device 202) with the image 208having the first image object 208 a in focus (e.g., the image 208 inFIG. 2 a) for the first 10 seconds that the challenge-responseauthentication 206 is provided on the user device 202, the image 208with the second image object 208 b in focus (e.g., the image 208 in FIG.2 b) for the second 10 seconds that the challenge-responseauthentication 206 is provided on the user device 202, and the image 208with the third image object 208 c in focus (e.g., the image 208 in FIG.2 a) for the third 10 seconds that the challenge-response authentication206 is provided on the user device 202, after which the sequence ofimage objects which are presented in focus on the user device display204 may be repeated.

In an embodiment, the sequence of image objects which are presented infocus may be predetermined. For example, a predetermined image objectfocus sequence may include presenting the first image object 208 a, thensecond image object 208 b, then third image object 208 c, and then torepeat (as described above and illustrated in FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c).Predetermined image object focus sequences may include repeating thepresentation of a particular image object in focus, reversing an imageobject focus sequence, etc., and one of skill in the art will recognizethat any predetermined image object focus sequences, including initialrandom sequences, randomly repeated sequences, any combinations ofrandom and non-random sequences, will fall within the scope of thepresent disclosure. In an embodiment, the amount of time image objectsare presented in focus may be performed by the challenge-responseauthentication 206 according to a predetermined timing schedule. Forexample, a predetermined timing sequence may include presenting eachobject in focus for 10 seconds (as described above.) Predeterminedtiming sequences may include presenting image objects in focus fordifferent amounts of time, rapidly shifting the focus of the imagebetween three or more image objects, etc., and one of skill in the artwill recognize that any predetermined timing sequences will fall withinthe scope of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, theauthentication device may select the predetermined image object focussequence and/or the predetermined timing sequence for thechallenge-response authentication provided on the user device 200 from aplurality of predetermined image object focus sequences and/orpredetermined timing sequences.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment of a focus-basedchallenge-response authentication system 300 is illustrated that issubstantially similar to the focus-based challenge-responseauthentication system 200 discussed above with reference to FIGS. 2 a, 2b, and 2 c, but with the provision of a modified image 302, instructionsection 304, and response section 306 in place of the image 208,instruction section 210, and response section 212. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 3, the instruction section 304 includes thefollowing instruction “Please indicate the object in the picture belowthat is in focus:”, and the response section includes instructions toprovide a response in the response box 212 a. However, the details ofthe instruction section 304 and/or the response section 306 are meant tobe merely exemplary, and one of skill in the art will recognize that avariety of instruction sections and response sections that detail to theuser what information about the image 302 should provided in theresponse box 212 a will fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the image 302 is again aplenoptic image. However, in this example, the image 302 includes afirst image object 302 a (the balloon in the image 302), a second imageobject 302 b (the dog in the image 302), and a third image object 302 c(the tree in the image 302.) As discussed above with the image 208, theimage 302 may be provided to the user device 202 at block 104 of themethod 100 such that only one of the first image object 302 a, thesecond image object 302 b, or the third image object 302 c is displayedon the user device display 204 in focus. As also discussed above withthe image 208, the image 302 may be provided to the user device 202 atblock 104 of the method 100 with a focal point of the image 302 changingover time such that only one of the first image object 302 a, the secondimage object 302 b, and the third image object 302 c is provided on theuser device display 204 in focus at any given time. Furthermore, thepredetermined image object focus sequences and/or the predeterminedtiming sequences may be used with the image 302 as well.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment of a focus-basedchallenge-response authentication system 400 is illustrated that issubstantially similar to the focus-based challenge-responseauthentication system 200 discussed above with reference to FIGS. 2 a, 2b, and 2 c, but with the provision of a modified image 402, instructionsection 404, and response section 406 in place of the image 208,instruction section 210, and response section 212. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 4, the instruction section 404 includes thefollowing instruction “Please indicate the shape and, if applicable, thepattern of the object below that is in focus:”, and the response sectionincludes instructions to provide a response in the response box 212 a.However, the details of the instruction section 404 and/or the responsesection 406 are meant to be merely exemplary, and one of skill in theart will recognize that a variety of instruction sections and responsesections that detail to the user what information about the image 402should provided in the response box 212 a will fall within the scope ofthe present disclosure.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the image 402 is not aplenoptic image like the images 208 and 302, discussed above. The image402 includes a first image object 402 a (the square with thecheckerboard pattern in the image 402), a second image object 402 b (thecircle in the image 402), and a third image object 402 c (the trianglein the image 402). Similarly as discussed above with the images 208 and302, but without using plenoptic image techniques, the image 402 may beprovided to the user device 202 at block 104 of the method 100 such thatonly one of the first image object 402 a, the second image object 402 b,or the third image object 402 c is displayed on the user device display204 in focus. Also similarly as discussed above with the images 208 and302, but without using plenoptic image techniques, the image 402 may beprovided to the user device 202 at block 104 of the method 100 with theimage object that is in focus changing over time such that only one ofthe first image object 402 a, the second image object 402 b, and thethird image object 402 c is provided on the user device display 204 infocus at any given time. Furthermore, the predetermined image objectfocus sequences and/or the predetermined timing sequences may be usedwith the image 402 as well.

In an embodiment, the instruction section, response section, and sendbutton on each of the challenge response authentications 206 illustratedin FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, 3, and 4 may be modified to simply instruct auser to select the image object in the image that is in focus (e.g., byusing an input device such as a mouse to ‘click on’ or select theportion of the image that includes the image object that is in focus.

The method 100 then proceeds to block 106 where an authenticationresponse is received. In an embodiment, in response to receiving thechallenge-response authentication at block 104 of the method 100, theuser uses the user device 202 to provide a response in the responsesection 212 a and then selects the send button 214 to send anauthentication response over the network to the authentication device.In another embodiment, in response to receiving the challenge-responseauthentication at block 104 of the method 100, the user uses the userdevice 202 to select a portion of the image in the challenge-responseauthentication that includes the image object that is in focus, whichresults in an authentication response that includes the selection of theportion of the image being sent over the network to the authenticationdevice.

The method 100 then proceeds to decision block 108 where it isdetermined whether the authentication response includes an indication ofimage object(s) that are in focus. In response to receiving theauthentication response over the network from the user device, theauthentication device analyzes the authentication response to determinewhether it includes an indication of an image object known or determinedto be in focus in the challenge response authentication that was sent inblock 104. The authentication device may retrieve information from oneor more databases to perform the analysis on the authenticationresponse. If the authentication response indicates the appropriate imageobject(s) that was/were in focus, the method 100 proceeds to block 110where the access attempt by the user device is authenticated. If theauthentication response indicates an image object(s) that was/were notin focus, the method 100 proceeds to block 112 where the access attemptby the user device is denied.

In one example, the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c isused where the image 208 was provided and displayed on the user devicedisplay 204 with only one of the first image object 208 a, second imageobject 208 b, or third image object 208 c in focus. In such anembodiment, the authentication device will know which image was providedand thus will know which image object in the image is in focus.

For the image 208 illustrated in FIG. 2 a, the authentication devicewill know that the image object 208 a is in focus, and will make thedetermination at decision block 108 that the authentication responseincludes an indication of the image object that is in focus if theauthentication response includes the words and/or character strings“one”, “first”, etc. For the image 208 illustrated in FIG. 2 b, theauthentication device will know that the image object 208 b is in focus,and will make the determination at decision block 108 that theauthentication response includes an indication of the image object thatis in focus if the authentication response includes the words and/orcharacter strings “two”, “second”, etc. For the image 208 illustrated inFIG. 2 c, the authentication device will know that the image object 208c is in focus, and will make the determination at decision block 108that the authentication response includes an indication of the imageobject that is in focus if the authentication response includes thewords and/or character strings “three”, “third”, etc.

In another example, the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 a, 2 b, and 2c is used where the image 208 was provided and displayed on the userdevice display 204 with a focal point of the image 208 changing overtime such that only one of the first image object 208 a, the secondimage object 208 b, and the third image object 208 c was provided on theuser device display 204 in focus at any given time. In such anembodiment, the authentication device determines which of the imageobjects in the image 208 was in focus when the authentication responsewas provided by the user.

For example, upon the image 208 being presented on the user devicedisplay 204 at block 104 of the method 100, the challenge-responseauthentication may begin a predetermined image object focus sequence andpredetermined timing sequence to provide the image objects 208 a, 208 b,and 208 c in focus in the image 208 at different times. Thechallenge-response authentication 206 may be operable to begin a timingmechanism when the image 208 is first presented on the user devicedisplay 204 such that a authentication response time, which may measurethe time elapsed between the providing of the challenge-responseauthentication 206 to the user device display 204 and the sending of theauthentication response by the user, is recorded when the authenticationresponse is sent. At block 106, along with the authentication response,the authentication device may receive the authentication response time.Then at block 108, the authentication device may retrieve thepredetermined image object focus sequence and predetermined timingsequence for the image that was provided in block 104 if the method 100.The authentication device may then use the authentication response timeto determine, according to the predetermined timing schedule, where inthe predetermined image object focus sequence the challenge-responseauthentication was when the authentication response was sent todetermine which of the image objects in the image 208 was in focus onthe user device display 204 when the authentication response was sent.The authentication device may then compare that against theauthentication response to determine at decision block 108 whether theauthentication response includes an indication of the image object thatwas in focus when the authentication response was sent.

In another embodiment, the authentication response includes a selectionof a portion of the image 208 as discussed above. The authenticationdevice may know or be operable to determine which of the image objectswas in focus when the authentication response was provided, e.g., usingthe techniques discussed above where the image 208 was provided anddisplayed on the user device display 204 with only one of the imageobjects in focus, or where the image 208 was provided and displayed onthe user device display 204 with a focal point of the image 208 changingover time such that one of the image objects was provided on the userdevice display 204 in focus at any given time. By using the informationabout which image object was in focus when the authentication responsewas sent, the authentication device may determine which portions of theimage are associated with that image object. The authentication devicemay then compare that information to the authentication response todetermine whether the selection of the portion of the image 208 in theauthentication response indicates the image object that was in focuswhen the authentication response was sent.

For example, for the image 208 illustrated in FIG. 2 a, theauthentication device will know or determine that the image object 208 awas in focus, and will make the determination at decision block 108 thatthe authentication response includes an indication of the image objectthat was in focus if the authentication response includes a selection ofa portion of the image 208 that is known to include the image object 208a. For the image 208 illustrated in FIG. 2 b, the authentication devicewill know or determine that the image object 208 b was in focus, andwill make the determination at decision block 108 that theauthentication response includes an indication of the image object thatwas in focus if the authentication response includes a selection of aportion of the image 208 that is known to include the image object 208b. For the image 208 illustrated in FIG. 2 c, the authentication devicewill know or determine that the image object 208 c was in focus, andwill make the determination at decision block 108 that theauthentication response includes an indication of the image object thatwas in focus if the authentication response includes a selection of aportion of the image 208 that is known to include the image object 208c.

In another example, the image 302 described above with reference to FIG.3 may have been provided at block 104 of the method 100, either withonly one of the first image object 302 a, second image object 302 b, orthird image object 302 c in focus, or with a focal point of the image302 changing over time such that only one of the first image object 302a, the second image object 302 b, and the third image object 302 c wasprovided on the user device display 204 in focus at any given time. Theauthentication device and/or user device may operate substantially asdiscussed above for the image 208 at decision block 108, with theexception that the authentication responses “balloon” (or a selection ofa portion of the image 302 that includes the balloon) will result in anauthenticated access attempt when the first image object 302 a was infocus, “dog” (or a selection of a portion of the image 302 that includesthe dog) will result in an authenticated access attempt when the secondimage object 302 b was in focus, and “tree” (or a selection of a portionof the image 302 that includes the tree) will result in an authenticatedaccess attempt when the third image object 302 c was in focus.

In another example, the image 402 described above with reference to FIG.4 may have been provided at block 104 of the method 100, either withonly one of the first image object 402 a, second image object 402 b, orthird image object 402 c in focus, or with a focal point of the image402 changing over time such that one of the first image object 402 a,the second image object 402 b, and the third image object 402 c wasprovided on the user device display 204 in focus at any given time. Theauthentication device and/or user device may operate substantially asdiscussed above for the images 208 and 302 at decision block 108, withthe exception that the authentication responses “square checkerboard”(or a selection of a portion of the image 302 that includes thecheckerboarded square) will result in an authenticated access attemptwhen the first image object 402 a was in focus, “circle” (or a selectionof a portion of the image 302 that includes the circle) will result inan authenticated access attempt when the second image object 402 b wasin focus, and “triangle” (or a selection of a portion of the image 302that includes the triangle) will result in an authenticated accessattempt when the third image object 402 c was in focus.

While the examples above discuss a single image object in the image ofthe challenge-response authentication being provided to the user on theuser devices display in focus, various subsets (e.g., more than one) ofthe image objects in a given image may be provided in focus. Thus, avariety of focus-based challenge-response authentications may beprovided that require the user to indicate the subset of image objectsof a plurality of image objects that are in focus in an image. Forexample, an instruction for a challenge-response authentication mayinclude “how many of the objects in the image below are in focus?”, andproper responses may range from “none” or “zero”, to a number of imageobjects, to “all”, etc.

Thus, a system and method are discussed that provide an image to a userdevice with only a subset of a plurality of image objects that areincluded in the image in focus. A user using the user device is asked toidentify and/or provide an indication of the subset of the plurality ofimage objects that are in focus. An authentication device either knowsor is operable to determine the subset of the image objects in focus inthe image provided to the user device, and compares that to theindication by the user to determine whether to authenticate the accessattempt. Note that “focus” does not require complete focus or clarity,as this may vary depending on a user's display device, a user'seyesight, lighting, etc. The one or more object images in “focus” may bethe one or ones that are the most clear, such that the “correct” imagefor authentication is still blurry, but not as much as the other images.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a networked system 500 used inthe payment system described above is illustrated. The networked system500 includes a plurality of user devices 502, an authentication device503, a plurality of payee devices 504, a payment service provider device506, and a plurality of account provider devices 508 in communicationover a network 510. Any of the user devices 502 may be the user device202, discussed above. The authentication device 503 may be theauthentication device discussed above and may be included in any of thepayee device 504, the payment service provider device 506, and/or theaccountholder device 508. The payee devices 504 may be operated by thepayees discussed herein. The payment service provider device 506 may beoperated by a payment service provider such as, for example, PayPal Inc.of San Jose, Calif. The account provider devices 508 may be operated byaccount providers such as, for example, credit card account providers,bank account providers, savings account providers, and a variety ofother account providers known in the art.

The user devices 502, authentication device 503, payee devices 504,payment service provider device 506, and account provider devices 508may each include one or more processors, memories, and other appropriatecomponents for executing instructions such as program code and/or datastored on one or more computer readable mediums to implement the variousapplications, data, and steps described herein. For example, suchinstructions may be stored in one or more computer readable mediums suchas memories or data storage devices internal and/or external to variouscomponents of the system 500, and/or accessible over the network 510.

The network 510 may be implemented as a single network or a combinationof multiple networks. For example, in various embodiments, the network510 may include the Internet and/or one or more intranets, landlinenetworks, wireless networks, and/or other appropriate types of networks.

The user device 502 may be implemented using any appropriate combinationof hardware and/or software configured for wired and/or wirelesscommunication over network 510. For example, in one embodiment, the userdevice 502 may be implemented as a personal computer of a user incommunication with the Internet. In other embodiments, the user device502 may be a smart phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), laptopcomputer, and/or other types of computing devices.

The user device 502 may include one or more browser applications whichmay be used, for example, to provide a convenient interface to permitthe user to browse information available over the network 510 and accesswebsites, applications, and/or other network services. For example, inone embodiment, the browser application may be implemented as a webbrowser configured to view information available over the Internet.

The user device 502 may also include one or more toolbar applicationswhich may be used, for example, to provide user-side processing forperforming desired tasks in response to operations selected by the user.In one embodiment, the toolbar application may display a user interfacein connection with the browser application.

The user device 502 may further include other applications as may bedesired in particular embodiments to provide desired features to theuser device 502. In particular, the other applications may include apayment application for payments assisted by a payment service providerthrough the payment service provider device 506. The other applicationsmay also include security applications for implementing user-sidesecurity features, programmatic user applications for interfacing withappropriate application programming interfaces (APIs) over the network510, or other types of applications. Email and/or text applications mayalso be included, which allow the user to send and receive emails and/ortext messages through the network 510. The user device 502 includes oneor more user and/or device identifiers which may be implemented, forexample, as operating system registry entries, cookies associated withthe browser application, identifiers associated with hardware of theuser device 502, or other appropriate identifiers, such as a phonenumber. In one embodiment, the user identifier may be used by thepayment service provider device 506 and/or account provider device 508to associate the user with a particular account.

The payee device 504 may be maintained, for example, by a conventionalor on-line merchant, conventional or digital goods seller, individualseller, and/or application developer offering various products and/orservices in exchange for payment to be received conventionally or overthe network 510. In this regard, the payee device 504 may include adatabase identifying available products and/or services (e.g.,collectively referred to as items) which may be made available forviewing and purchase by the payer.

The payee device 504 also includes a checkout application which may beconfigured to facilitate the purchase by the payer of items. Thecheckout application may be configured to accept payment informationfrom the user through the user device 502, the account provider throughthe account provider device 508, and/or from the payment serviceprovider through the payment service provider device 506 over thenetwork 510.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an embodiment of a user device 600 isillustrated. The user device 600 may be the user devices 202 and/or 502.The user device 600 includes a chassis 602 having a display 604 and aninput device including the display 604 and a plurality of input buttons606. One of skill in the art will recognize that the user device 600 isa portable or mobile phone including a touch screen input device and aplurality of input buttons that allow the functionality discussed abovewith reference to the method 100. However, a variety of otherportable/mobile user devices and/or desktop user devices may be used inthe method 100 without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an embodiment of a computer system 700 suitablefor implementing, for example, the user devices 202, 502, and 600, theauthenticating device 503, the payees device 504, the payment serviceprovider device 506, and/or the account provider device 508, isillustrated. It should be appreciated that other devices utilized byusers, payees, payment service providers, and account providers in thepayment system discussed above may be implemented as the computer system700 in a manner as follows.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure,computer system 700, such as a computer and/or a network server,includes a bus 702 or other communication mechanism for communicatinginformation, which interconnects subsystems and components, such as aprocessing component 704 (e.g., processor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor (DSP), etc.), a system memory component 706 (e.g.,RAM), a static storage component 708 (e.g., ROM), a disk drive component710 (e.g., magnetic or optical), a network interface component 712(e.g., modem or Ethernet card), a display component 714 (e.g., CRT orLCD), an input component 718 (e.g., keyboard, keypad, or virtualkeyboard), a cursor control component 720 (e.g., mouse, pointer, ortrackball), and/or a location determination component 722 (e.g., aGlobal Positioning System (GPS) device as illustrated, a cell towertriangulation device, and/or a variety of other location determinationdevices known in the art.) In one implementation, the disk drivecomponent 710 may comprise a database having one or more disk drivecomponents.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the computersystem 700 performs specific operations by the processor 704 executingone or more sequences of instructions contained in the memory component706, such as described herein with respect to the user device 202, 502,and 600, the authentication device 503, the payee device(s) 504, thepayment service provider device 506, and/or the account providerdevice(s) 508. Such instructions may be read into the system memorycomponent 706 from another computer readable medium, such as the staticstorage component 708 or the disk drive component 710. In otherembodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement the presentdisclosure.

Logic may be encoded in a computer readable medium, which may refer toany medium that participates in providing instructions to the processor704 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but notlimited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.In one embodiment, the computer readable medium is non-transitory. Invarious implementations, non-volatile media includes optical or magneticdisks, such as the disk drive component 710, volatile media includesdynamic memory, such as the system memory component 706, andtransmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiberoptics, including wires that comprise the bus 702. In one example,transmission media may take the form of acoustic or light waves, such asthose generated during radio wave and infrared data communications.

Some common forms of computer readable media includes, for example,floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM,FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer is adapted to read. In oneembodiment, the computer readable media is non-transitory.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution ofinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may beperformed by the computer system 700. In various other embodiments ofthe present disclosure, a plurality of the computer systems 700 coupledby a communication link 724 to the network 510 (e.g., such as a LAN,WLAN, PTSN, and/or various other wired or wireless networks, includingtelecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) may performinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure in coordinationwith one another.

The computer system 700 may transmit and receive messages, data,information and instructions, including one or more programs (i.e.,application code) through the communication link 724 and the networkinterface component 712. The network interface component 712 may includean antenna, either separate or integrated, to enable transmission andreception via the communication link 724. Received program code may beexecuted by processor 704 as received and/or stored in disk drivecomponent 710 or some other non-volatile storage component forexecution.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an embodiment of a authentication device 800 isillustrated. In an embodiment, the device 800 may be the authenticationdevice 503, payment service provider device 506, the payee device 504,and/or the account holder device 508. The device 800 includes acommunication engine 802 that is coupled to the network 510 and to achallenge-response authentication engine 804 that is coupled to each ofa sequence and timing database 806 and an image database 808. Thecommunication engine 802 may be software or instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that, when executed by a processor, allows thedevice 800 to send and receive information over the network 510. Thechallenge-response authentication engine 804 may be software orinstructions stored on a computer-readable medium that, when executed bya processor, allows the device 800 to retrieve images from the imagedatabase 808, retrieve sequence and timing information for the retrievedimage from the sequence and timing database 806, send the image and thesequence and timing information to the communications engine 802,receive authentication responses, determine whether the authenticationresponses correctly indicate image objects that are in focus in an imageprovided in a challenge response authentication, and/or provide aplurality of other functions discussed above. While the databases 806and 808 has been illustrated as located in the authentication device800, one of skill in the art will recognize that they may be connectedto the challenge-response authentication engine 804 through the network510 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also, where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components andvice-versa.

Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as programcode and/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readablemediums. It is also contemplated that software identified herein may beimplemented using one or more general purpose or specific purposecomputers and/or computer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Whereapplicable, the ordering of various steps described herein may bechanged, combined into composite steps, and/or separated into sub-stepsto provide features described herein.

The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present disclosureto the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. As such, itis contemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modificationsto the present disclosure, whether explicitly described or impliedherein, are possible in light of the disclosure. For example, the aboveembodiments have focused on users, payees, payment service providers,and account holders; however, a user may attempt access and beingauthenticated by a variety of other entities. Having thus describedembodiments of the present disclosure, persons of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for authenticating an access attempt,comprising: detecting an access attempt by a user device over a network;providing a challenge-response authentication over the network to theuser device, wherein the challenge-response authentication includes amulti-focal-point image having a first image object associated with afirst focal point in the multi-focal-point image, a second image objectassociated with a second focal point in the multi-focal-point image thatis different from the first focal point, and depth informationassociated with the first image object and the second image object, andwherein the challenge-response authentication is configured to displaythe multi-focal-point image and use the depth information to change afocus of the multi-focal point image between the first focal point andthe second focal point; receiving, in response to providing thechallenge-response authentication, an authentication response from theuser device over the network; and determining whether the authenticationresponse includes an indication of or information about the first imageobject when the first focal point is focused or the second image objectwhen the second focal point is focused.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: authenticating the access attempt in response todetermining that the authentication response includes an indication ofor information about the first image object when the first focal pointis focused or the second image object when the second focal point isfocused; and denying the access attempt in response to determining thatthe authentication response does not include an indication of orinformation about the first image object when the first focal point isfocused or the second image object when the second focal point isfocused.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the challenge-responseauthentication is configured to focus the first focal point and thesecond focal point in the multi-focal-point image according to apredetermined focus sequence.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: retrieving a predetermined timing schedule; determining thatthe first focal point is scheduled to be focused at a first timeaccording to the predetermined timing schedule and that the second focalpoint is scheduled to be focused at a second time according to thepredetermined timing schedule; and determining whether theauthentication response includes an indication of or information aboutthe first image object when the first focal point is focused at thefirst time, or about the second image object when the second focal pointis focused at the second time.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: retrieving a predetermined focus sequence and apredetermined timing schedule; receiving an authentication response timefrom the user device over the network; and using the authenticationresponse time to determine, according to the predetermined timingschedule and the predetermined focus sequence, which of the first focalpoint and the second focal point was focused when the authenticationresponse was sent from the user device over the network.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the image includes a plenoptic image.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the authentication response includes a text string.8. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication response includes aselection of a portion of the image, and wherein the determiningincludes: determining whether the portion of the image selectedindicates the first image object when the first focal point is focusedor the second image object when the second focal point is focused.
 9. Anon-transitory, machine-readable medium comprising a plurality ofmachine-readable instructions that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform a methodcomprising: detecting an access attempt by a user device over a network;providing a challenge-response authentication over the network to theuser device, wherein the challenge-response authentication includes amulti-focal-point image having a first image object associated with afirst focal point in the multi-focal-point image, a second image objectassociated with a second focal point in the multi-focal-point image thatis different from the first focal point, and depth informationassociated with the first image object and the second image object, andwherein the challenge-response authentication is configured to displaythe multi-focal-point image and use the depth information to change afocus of the multi-focal point image between the first focal point andthe second focal point; receiving, in response to providing thechallenge-response authentication, an authentication response from theuser device over the network; and determining whether the authenticationresponse includes an indication of or information about the first imageobject when the first focal point is focused or the second image objectwhen the second focal point is focused.
 10. The non-transitory,machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method furthercomprises: authenticating the access attempt in response to determiningthat the authentication response includes an indication of orinformation about the first image object when the first focal point isfocused or the second image object when the second focal point isfocused; and denying the access attempt in response to determining thatthe authentication response does not include an indication of orinformation about the first image object when the first focal point isfocused or the second image object when the second focal point isfocused.
 11. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 9,wherein the challenge-response authentication is configured to focus thefirst focal point and the second focal point in the multi-focal-pointimage according to a predetermined focus sequence.
 12. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the methodfurther comprises: retrieving a predetermined timing schedule;determining that the first focal point is scheduled to be focused at afirst time according to the predetermined timing schedule and that thesecond focal point is scheduled to be focused at a second time accordingto the predetermined timing schedule; and determining whether theauthentication response includes an indication of or information aboutthe first image object when the first focal point is focused at thefirst time, or about the second image object when the second focal pointis focused at the second time.
 13. The non-transitory, machine-readablemedium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises: retrieving apredetermined focus sequence and a predetermined timing schedule;receiving an authentication response time from the user device over thenetwork; and using the authentication response time to determine,according to the predetermined timing schedule and the predeterminedfocus sequence, which of the first focal point and the second focalpoint was focused when the authentication response was sent from theuser device over the network.
 14. The non-transitory, machine-readablemedium of claim 9, wherein the authentication response includes a textstring.
 15. The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 9,wherein the authentication response includes a selection of a portion ofthe image, and wherein the determining includes: determining whether theportion of the image selected indicates the first image object when thefirst focal point is focused or the second image object when the secondfocal point is focused.
 16. A focus-based challenge-responseauthentication system, comprising: means for detecting an accessattempt; means for providing a challenge-response authentication,wherein the challenge-response authentication includes amulti-focal-point image having a first image object associated with afirst focal point in the multi-focal-point image, a second image objectassociated with a second focal point in the multi-focal-point image thatis different from the first focal point, and a depth informationassociated with the first image object and the second image object, andwherein the challenge-response authentication is configured to displaythe multi-focal-point image and use the depth information to change afocus of the multi-focal point image between the first focal point andthe second focal point; means for receiving, in response to providingthe challenge-response authentication, an authentication response; andmeans for determining whether the authentication response includes anindication of or information about the first image object when the firstfocal point is focused or the second image object when the second focalpoint is focused.
 17. The system of claim 16, further comprising: meansfor authenticating the access attempt in response to determining thatthe authentication response includes an indication of or informationabout the first image object when the first focal point is focused orthe second image object when the second focal point is focused; andmeans for denying the access attempt in response to determining that theauthentication response does not include an indication of or informationabout the first image object when the first focal point is focused orthe second image object when the second focal point is focused.
 18. Thesystem of claim 16, further comprising: means for retrieving apredetermined timing schedule; means for determining that the firstfocal point is scheduled to be focused at a first time according to thepredetermined timing schedule and that the second focal point isscheduled to be focused at a second time according to the predeterminedtiming schedule; and means for determining whether the authenticationresponse includes an indication of or information about the first imageobject when the first focal point is focused at the first time, or aboutthe second image object when the second focal point is focused at thesecond time.
 19. The system of claim 16, further comprising: means forretrieving a predetermined focus sequence and a predetermined timingschedule; means for receiving an authentication response time; and meansfor using the authentication response time to determine, according tothe predetermined timing schedule and the predetermined focus sequence,which of the first focal point and the second focal point was focusedwhen the authentication response was sent.
 20. The system of claim 16,wherein the means for receiving the authentication response includes atleast one of means for receiving a text string and means for receiving aselection of a portion of the image.